In reply to Lord French's unfortunate assertion that Lord Kitchener
took no trouble to supply the Expeditionary Force with shells in the spring of 1915, Mr. Asquith quotes a letter from Lord Kitchener, dated April 14th, 1915 :— " I have had a talk with French. He told me I could let you know that with the present supply of ammunition he would have as much as his troops would be able to use in the next forward movement.
" I think the next move will be much better than the last, with co-operation from the French forces, which failed last time."
That letter confirms the evidence already available, such as Lord French's own letter of May 2nd, 1915—a week before the =lion at Festubert—saying that " the ammunition will be all right." Lord Kitchener's comment on the violent Press campaign started against him was characteristic. " I am out to fight the Germans and not to fight Sir John French."
Previous page
